Finding your feet: A journey from Perth to Silicon Valley

Mikey Kailis MCom(Adv) '13 was born in Perth, but moved to San Francisco in 2018 for a role in the venture capital industry at Counterpart Ventures. As the first hire at the fund, his role covers a number of different functions including managing the existing portfolio, sourcing new deals, managing corporate investor relations, marketing and general operations. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Mikey worked for a startup here in Perth that serviced the mining industry on innovation and digital transformation. He has worked alongside startup companies since he graduated UWA, having helped coordinate one of Australia’s largest startup competitions called the OzAPP Awards which is now an annual conference called the West Tech Fest. His educational background is in journalism, business management and marketing. Mikey grew up working in his family seafood business and is a die-hard Manchester United fan.